Howard Margolis interview
Reading disabilities co-author's insights

Knowing what learners struggle with ties in to one of the ideas that intrigued me in your book : the three levels of reading difficulty. Please explain those three levels.

At the instructional level, teachers work directly with children—they instruct them directly. Teachers believe that if children make a moderate effort to succeed with materials at this level, they will, and they'll feel satisfied. Children also believe they can succeed with materials at this level.

Anything easier is independent level material for children to work on by themselves.

Anything harder is frustration level material; too many materials at this level overwhelm children and cause burn out.

Is that why you say a struggling reader can't improve by reading difficult material?

Occasionally, a struggling reader can handle difficult material if he's strongly interested in the topic and has a good background. But struggling readers can't handle lots of difficult materials. Again, too many difficult materials overwhelm and frustrate struggling readers.

You say struggling readers must become fluent readers or they won't become proficient. What do you mean by that?

Slow, laborious reading is not fun. Children who read this way tend to avoid reading.

Moreover, slow, laborious reading interferes with comprehension. So much of a child's mental resources are devoted to word recognition that comprehension and the joy of reading are lost.

I think a similar case could be made that teens and adults need to develop fluency in the writing process or they don't become proficient writers.

I agree. To become a fluent reader requires a child to do lots of reading. Similarly, to become a fluent writer requires a teen or an adult to do lots of writing.

Another emphasis in your book is the importance of teaching explicit strategies. What do you mean by explicit strategies, and why are they important for youngsters who have reading disabilities?

A strategy tells youngsters what to do when. Simple strategies reduce confusion and make learning easier. For example, the RAP strategy: Read the paragraph, Ask what is the main idea, Put it and two supporting details on paper.

Are strategies good only for students with reading disabilities or other learning problems? Do they have value for those without disabilities?

Mastering strategies can help lots of students. If, however, students are very good at doing something, they've probably developed their own strategy and don't need another one. They're achieving what they need to. In other words, a strategy is a means to an end and they've achieved the end without needing the teacher's strategy.

Writing teachers sometimes tell me that teaching strategies takes the fun out of writing. Do you get the same comment from reading teachers?

No. If teachers are enthusiastic about a strategy, if they breathe life and interest into it, if they show students how the strategy will help them achieve something the students believe is important, and if the students are interested in what they're reading and writing, they'll probably find the work fun and the strategy a satisfying means to an end.

I suspect the teachers who tell me strategies take the fun out of writing were not very enthusiastic about them to begin with.

Thank you for sharing your insights about teaching students with reading disabilities with You-Can-Teach-Writing visitors. I enjoyed picking your brain.

More pages about reading-writing connections

Return to return to the start of the reading and writing thread from this page about reading disabilities, or choose one of the other pages on this topic from the list below.